An Army Like No Other

Elie came home last night. So dirty from a week in the field; so tired from lack of sleep. He was, once again, too tired to really eat anything and exhausted enough that all he wanted was a shower and bed.

We had a few minutes to talk on the ride home. He’d brought me mud, he warned, and we talked of his laundry and what needs to be washed with what.

“How was the Golan?” I asked him.

“Muddy,” was his answer.

“Did you do any shooting?” I asked him. He was supposed to have assisted in a training exercise for paratroopers, but I had heard of fog in the north several days and assumed that the conditions were too dangerous for at least part of the time to allow for this.

“No, not at all,” Elie answered.

“The weather was that bad?” I asked.

“No, today the weather was fine.”

“So why didn’t you shoot today?” I asked.

“Cows,” Elie answered.

Um…one of my concerns with having a son in the artillery is that the loud booms of the cannons, even with ear plugs and the thick ear protection the army offers, will damage Elie’s hearing. I didn’t think anything would happen to his ability to form words and so I asked for clarification.

“What?” I asked.

“Cows,” Elie answered again.

“Cows?” I asked. OK, if his speech is fine, it must be MY hearing.

“Yes,” Elie said.

“OK…cows.”

You see, cows had wandered into the firing range where the practice was going to take place. And so the army canceled a major exercise, lest the…the cows, be injured.

“Couldn’t you…like…call their owners and tell them to move them?”

“Ima, the Golan is full of cows,” Elie said simply.

Would other armies cancel an exercise for this reason? Man and machine had been brought to the Golan for this exercise. There is a cost to all things in the army. Money to move equipment, officers to oversee, planes flying, and so much more. For a week, Elie and his team were stationed ready to offer the necessary backup for the paratroopers to have their exercise. A simulation of real war. Smoke, explosions…and, apparently cows.

I can’t see Hamas or Hezbollah caring about a bunch of cows; I can’t see NATO rescheduling a massive training event. I just can’t see what my ears knew I’d heard.

This week, my son came home with clothes filled with mud. Despite a massive rain storm, the worst of the season, the army was ready to proceed with an important exercise. The storm – hail and rain, wind and fog, didn’t cancel the exercise. It only delayed it. In the end, it was the cows.

I second Findalis regarding the US military. The US military will stop training for turtles, birds, wild horses, anything that shouldn’t be out on the range. Ironically, some of the best preserved eco systems are on the military bases here in the US. For instance, at Fort Belvoir in the Washington DC area, they have an expanding Bald Eagle population, owls other places, endangered turtles. Its really pretty cool.

Thanks to Findalis and RangersGirl – I had a feeling if I wrote “An Army Like No Other” – you guys would come through and tell me the US army also does similar things…I’d love to hear if there are other armies. I can’t imagine any other army in the Middle East, at least, who would care (most wouldn’t care even if there were people there!).

Anyway – you guys are great and as always, I’m so glad you read and comment!

We are a democratic country; so much so, we allow our enemies into our government and from the podium of our parliament, they have the freedom to call for policies that would destroy us.
Our current enemies, those who pose the most immediate threat lie to our north. This is Hizbollah land, where according to their leader Hassan Nasrallah, “We have discovered how to hit the Jews where they are the most vulnerable. The Jews love life, so that is what we shall take away from them. We are going to win, because they love life and we love death.”
Our enemies lie to the northeast. This is Syria. My sons have spent many months on the Golan Heights, including some tense days waiting to see how the Syrians would react after Israel sent planes to destroy a building widely believed to be the beginnings of a nuclear reactor. My oldest son fought near Gaza to help stop the rockets from being fired against Israel.
Our enemies lie further to the east. This is Iran, led by fanatics who promise that they will do all they can to accomplish in a few minutes more than what Adolf Hitler accomplished in six years of war. The Iranian leadership has made it clear in words and actions that they are after a nuclear bomb and that their goal is to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. Believe them.